More Trees Down

Once upon a time, there was a pair of glorious chestnut trees in front of 400 State Street--trees that may well have been planted when the building was briefly (1865-1880) the home of the wealthy river boat owner George H. Power or later when it became the Hudson Orphan Asylum.

Around 1995, the spreading chestnut trees were cut down on the order of the superintendent of the Hudson City School District, which then owned the building although the Hudson Area Library inhabited most of it. The loss of the trees was mourned by just about everyone in the community. The building looked shockingly stark without the trees that had been there for decades, and money was raised to replace the trees.

Photo: Byrne Fone

Around 1996, two tulip trees were planted in front of the building to replace the lost chestnuts, but they were small trees, and in the first year, the trunk of one of them was snapped by vandals in the night. A few years later, the library board decided to move the surviving tulip tree--still small enough to be moved--and plant a pair of locust trees in front of the building. That plan was not carried out as intended, because the nurseryman who had agreed to plant the locusts did not think there was a suitable place in the yard for the tulip tree. So, he planted only one locust. For years, the building had a locust to the west of the entrance and a tulip tree to the east.

Although there was a regrettable lack of symmetry, both trees flourished and were achieving maturity, until today.

This afternoon, both trees were cut down. A Gossips reader provided these pictures. 
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